Educational Administrators promote an environment of professional learning and innovation that empowers educators to enhance student learning through the infusion of contemporary technologies and digital resources.
Educational Administrators:
a. allocate time, resources, and access to ensure ongoing professional growth in technology fluency and integration
b. facilitate and participate in learning communities that stimulate, nurture, and support administrators, faculty, and staff in the study and use of technology
c. promote and model effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders using digital-age tools
d. stay abreast of educational research and emerging trends regarding effective
Ryan Schrader
After looking over the NETS-T learning standards, I decided that I wanted to talk about #3c in the standards. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning is number 3 and the the one that I want to talk about is communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats. The reason why I chose to use this standard is that I was thinking that if I were ever a principal that I could use Google Documents that would benefit my school, students, staff, and parents all together. What I thought about for this standard is having all staff and parents be invited into one google group. We could just call it the school name that way everyone knows where they could find it. What I would want to do on this is have all daily announcements loaded on there so everyone could view what the announcements were for that particular day. Another thing that I would do is have it setup as a homework hotline. Parents could check on the google documents and see what homework their son or daughter had that night. It also gives the parents the opportunity to see what their son/ daughter is doing in class. All the teachers would be involved because they would be able to get on at the end of the day and fill out what homework was assigned. This way the principal knows what was assigned the parents knows what was assigned, that way there would be no excueses. Lastly, I would use this to put up all permission slip forms, registration forms, upcoming events, and all of our newsletters. This way we could eliminate the paper we use to send home all of these things. I would also have our superintendent included in the group so that he could browse through on it and see what is going on and also communicate with myself as well. I think by doing this is could eliminate a lot of parent phone calls to teachers becasue the parents can see what is going on and what homework is due by looking for themselves. I think that using google documents in a school community would be beneficial in a small school setting to help communicate what is going on.
Patrick Haddock
3d.
A Wiki or even the use of a blog could be used to post current educational research or trends regarding technology within education. By setting it up as a Wiki or a blog, it would allow individuals to interact with one another regarding the research and comment on the results and the different trends. If teachers try using different trends within their classrooms, they could post their own individual results on the Wiki or blog and allow other teachers and administrators to comment on what they have tried within the classrooms.
Carri Oslager: 3 C : I find this one to be the easiest of the sub-standards. As an administrator, you provide the example and can model use of technology effectively- even if it's only a limited amount to start. Just taking this course has inspired me to do many new things in my classroom- and the idea of being able to inspire others is a great feeling.
Giving teachers time to learn new technology (in-service, summer courses, etc...) is key. Though some would not want to take the personal time to do so- offering extra courses on a volunteer basis for 1-2 years could be the start, with the final goal that in 3 years all will be up-to-par with new technology. (The downside to this is that in just 18 months technology changes!)
Scott Gaffke
3 A&B
I've combined these two aspects of excellence in professional practice as I think allocating time for and facilitating the use of technology go hand in hand. In this regard, an administrator could make it a point to send staff members to seminars or conferences dealing with the use of technology. Often times the focus of seminars that teachers are sent to revolve around differentiation, interventions, tips for the ISATs (or PSAEs, ACTs, etc.). While these seminars are no doubt beneficial, an administrator should not overlook the technology piece of the puzzle. Technology can also greatly enhance student achievement and help teachers address differentiation and the other areas that I've mentioned. Furthermore, schools often have PLCs set up by grade level or for other purposes. I think it would be wise for an administrator to create a PLC or "technology team" just to keep up with technological advancements on behalf of the school. Technology changes so rapidly and is clearly the wave of the future. It only makes sense then to have a team dedicated to staying up with these changes and in turn passing them along to the school staff.
Brenda Petre NETS 3b: By using google docs teachers would be able to help each other on different technology aspects. If a teacher is having a problem, then they could post their problem on a google document and then other teachers or a tech person could respond with the best way to solve the problem. This would create a learning community where teachers could help other teachers and if many teachers are having the same problem, then they could read what is the best way to fix it.
Mike Guzaldo 3b The current trend in district 115 is collaboration in Professional Learning Communities, and I know teachers at my building meet once a week to discuss best practice ideas and the grouping of students. The main concepts from these PLC meetings could be posted on a closed blog for just building teachers and administrators. I think that this would be a great communication tool for administrators who can’t be at everyone of those meetings.
Jessica Brown
NETS-A 3A- To better allocate time as an administrator, you could use Google Documents. Instead of holding a staff meeting, when your teachers would most likely rather be getting things done in their rooms, you could just upload a new policy or something that you learned at a confernece unto a google document. Then you could invite them to share in this. When they tell you they didn't recieve this, you'll also have proof that they did in your google invites. Its a great use of time for both you the administrator and the teachers will thank you for not wasting their time at another meeting.
Nicci Ciesla
#3a--Although this standard seems obvious to me, it is one that I believe is often overlooked. While teachers are frequently expected to know how to use the most "cutting edge" technologies, they are not always trained in them--or even aware of them in some cases. Even something as simple as the newest version of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint can present an obstacle to many teachers. While our school began using these new programs at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, we were never trained in them. For many of us, finding the options and tools we need can be intuitive, but for others it's a daunting and time-consuming task. Setting aside even an hour of an institute day or school improvement day can update us on the basics we need and get us on our way. In the case of entirely new technological advances, such as the fairly recent addition of wiki's, teachers need some sort of training in order to use them. If as administrators we expect teachers to use them and praise those who do, we need to provide teachers with the training. Even relatively recent college graduates are not familiar with all of the technologies available due to the pace at which the internet, etc. has grown. Continued training is necessary to keep teachers aware of and familiar with the latest technology.
Brenda Petre- 3b- As an administrator you could use the movie maker to upload meetings if they were recorded. Then any teacher that may have not been there or if they had other meetings they would be able to see and hear what was discussed. Also by recording PLC meetings, teachers would be able to remember what they discussed last time and what progress has been made.
Educational Administrators promote an environment of professional learning and innovation that empowers educators to enhance student learning through the infusion of contemporary technologies and digital resources.
Educational Administrators:
a. allocate time, resources, and access to ensure ongoing professional growth in technology fluency and integration
b. facilitate and participate in learning communities that stimulate, nurture, and support administrators, faculty, and staff in the study and use of technology
c. promote and model effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders using digital-age tools
d. stay abreast of educational research and emerging trends regarding effective
Ryan Schrader
After looking over the NETS-T learning standards, I decided that I wanted to talk about #3c in the standards. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning is number 3 and the the one that I want to talk about is communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats. The reason why I chose to use this standard is that I was thinking that if I were ever a principal that I could use Google Documents that would benefit my school, students, staff, and parents all together. What I thought about for this standard is having all staff and parents be invited into one google group. We could just call it the school name that way everyone knows where they could find it. What I would want to do on this is have all daily announcements loaded on there so everyone could view what the announcements were for that particular day. Another thing that I would do is have it setup as a homework hotline. Parents could check on the google documents and see what homework their son or daughter had that night. It also gives the parents the opportunity to see what their son/ daughter is doing in class. All the teachers would be involved because they would be able to get on at the end of the day and fill out what homework was assigned. This way the principal knows what was assigned the parents knows what was assigned, that way there would be no excueses. Lastly, I would use this to put up all permission slip forms, registration forms, upcoming events, and all of our newsletters. This way we could eliminate the paper we use to send home all of these things. I would also have our superintendent included in the group so that he could browse through on it and see what is going on and also communicate with myself as well. I think by doing this is could eliminate a lot of parent phone calls to teachers becasue the parents can see what is going on and what homework is due by looking for themselves. I think that using google documents in a school community would be beneficial in a small school setting to help communicate what is going on.
Patrick Haddock
3d.
A Wiki or even the use of a blog could be used to post current educational research or trends regarding technology within education. By setting it up as a Wiki or a blog, it would allow individuals to interact with one another regarding the research and comment on the results and the different trends. If teachers try using different trends within their classrooms, they could post their own individual results on the Wiki or blog and allow other teachers and administrators to comment on what they have tried within the classrooms.
Carri Oslager: 3 C : I find this one to be the easiest of the sub-standards. As an administrator, you provide the example and can model use of technology effectively- even if it's only a limited amount to start. Just taking this course has inspired me to do many new things in my classroom- and the idea of being able to inspire others is a great feeling.
Giving teachers time to learn new technology (in-service, summer courses, etc...) is key. Though some would not want to take the personal time to do so- offering extra courses on a volunteer basis for 1-2 years could be the start, with the final goal that in 3 years all will be up-to-par with new technology. (The downside to this is that in just 18 months technology changes!)
Scott Gaffke
3 A&B
I've combined these two aspects of excellence in professional practice as I think allocating time for and facilitating the use of technology go hand in hand. In this regard, an administrator could make it a point to send staff members to seminars or conferences dealing with the use of technology. Often times the focus of seminars that teachers are sent to revolve around differentiation, interventions, tips for the ISATs (or PSAEs, ACTs, etc.). While these seminars are no doubt beneficial, an administrator should not overlook the technology piece of the puzzle. Technology can also greatly enhance student achievement and help teachers address differentiation and the other areas that I've mentioned. Furthermore, schools often have PLCs set up by grade level or for other purposes. I think it would be wise for an administrator to create a PLC or "technology team" just to keep up with technological advancements on behalf of the school. Technology changes so rapidly and is clearly the wave of the future. It only makes sense then to have a team dedicated to staying up with these changes and in turn passing them along to the school staff.
Brenda Petre NETS 3b: By using google docs teachers would be able to help each other on different technology aspects. If a teacher is having a problem, then they could post their problem on a google document and then other teachers or a tech person could respond with the best way to solve the problem. This would create a learning community where teachers could help other teachers and if many teachers are having the same problem, then they could read what is the best way to fix it.
Mike Guzaldo
3b The current trend in district 115 is collaboration in Professional Learning Communities, and I know teachers at my building meet once a week to discuss best practice ideas and the grouping of students. The main concepts from these PLC meetings could be posted on a closed blog for just building teachers and administrators. I think that this would be a great communication tool for administrators who can’t be at everyone of those meetings.
Jessica Brown
NETS-A 3A- To better allocate time as an administrator, you could use Google Documents. Instead of holding a staff meeting, when your teachers would most likely rather be getting things done in their rooms, you could just upload a new policy or something that you learned at a confernece unto a google document. Then you could invite them to share in this. When they tell you they didn't recieve this, you'll also have proof that they did in your google invites. Its a great use of time for both you the administrator and the teachers will thank you for not wasting their time at another meeting.
Nicci Ciesla
#3a--Although this standard seems obvious to me, it is one that I believe is often overlooked. While teachers are frequently expected to know how to use the most "cutting edge" technologies, they are not always trained in them--or even aware of them in some cases. Even something as simple as the newest version of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint can present an obstacle to many teachers. While our school began using these new programs at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, we were never trained in them. For many of us, finding the options and tools we need can be intuitive, but for others it's a daunting and time-consuming task. Setting aside even an hour of an institute day or school improvement day can update us on the basics we need and get us on our way. In the case of entirely new technological advances, such as the fairly recent addition of wiki's, teachers need some sort of training in order to use them. If as administrators we expect teachers to use them and praise those who do, we need to provide teachers with the training. Even relatively recent college graduates are not familiar with all of the technologies available due to the pace at which the internet, etc. has grown. Continued training is necessary to keep teachers aware of and familiar with the latest technology.
Brenda Petre- 3b- As an administrator you could use the movie maker to upload meetings if they were recorded. Then any teacher that may have not been there or if they had other meetings they would be able to see and hear what was discussed. Also by recording PLC meetings, teachers would be able to remember what they discussed last time and what progress has been made.